Ive been to Vegas three times in the past six months.My Precision-Shooting has improved to the point
where my entire trip is paid for and I get to come home with a little more money than I
went with.Thats the good part, but the
bad part is that Ive also tried to get into the Rain Nightclub at The Palms three
times, but have never been admitted. I would really like to get in on a Saturday night, so
what would you advise?

A:

First
let me congratulate you on your Precision-Shooting success.The improvements that you have made are tangible,
and the efforts are now beginning to pay dividends.Well
done!

As
far as trying to get into Rain on Saturday night, for most people, it is a lesson in
bouncer know-how. If you sometimes play craps at The Palms, then the Pit Boss, Casino Host
or Casino Services department can hook you up with a VIP Pass that will get you past the
WWE wannabe at the door.From there, you can
go directly up to the club's 3rd floor VIP lounge. You can look down from your perch, eye
some candy, and head past the ring of fire, and cross the moat towards the dance floor
where the real action is.

If you arent a Palms player, then simply go to E-Vegas.com
and print out a free Line Pass.Though it wont
get you into the VIP Lounge, it will still let you bypass the waiting throngs and get you
into the club.

Q:

Ive
seen this situation mentioned before, but no one provided a solution.In my regular casino they changed the rules so
that if you dont have a table-minimum bet on the previous shooter, then you cant
shoot the dice.I hate betting on
random-rollers, and especially throwing money away on them just to get the chance to shoot
the dice.What should I do?

A:

First, you want to ascertain whether or not the player to your
immediate right (the player the dice will go to before they come to you), is intending to
shoot the dice.Some players choose to pass
the dice, so you may have to bet on the player two or more spots from where you are
currently standing.

Once
you determine who the next nearest shooter will be (prior to you), the easiest, low-cost
solution is to make a doey-dont bet (an equal amount of money wagered on the Pass
Line as well as the Dont Pass line).You
make this bet when the dice come to the next nearest shooter to you.

Depending
on the table minimum, you MAY want to hedge your PL & DP-bets with a $1 wager
straight-up on the 12-midnight.On a $5
table, this is NOT a good hedge, while at the $25 level it begins to make a lot of sense
from an insurance standpoint.In
any event, once the Point is established, you are home free, your money is safe, and you
should be able to throw the dice when they come to you.

Q:

Ive
e-mailed a number of dicesetting instructors that advertise their services on the web.Ive read as much as I can, and Ive
bought a lot of books, but havent had the time to read them yet.Anyway, Ive asked them if they think I need
lessons, and each one of them have said that I do.What
do you think?

A:

Never
ask your barber if you need a haircut.Perhaps you may want to
dedicate some time to reading the books that youve already got, before investing
more money in lessons.There is SO MUCH free
stuff on this website, as well as a few other sites that have some good material too.Although you didnt mention how much time
that you spend PRACTICING, I suspect that your busy schedule keeps that task to an
absolute minimum.

My
best advice would be to echo what Heavy and Irishsetter would recommend, and that is to
learn as much as you possibly can for free.Then
dedicate yourself to honing your skills on at at-home practice rig.After three or four months of continual study and
continual practice, if you still feel that your game could use some improvement, by all
means you could consider taking some lessons.Just
remember that whatever they teach you, you will still have to practice until you puke if
you want to get really good.

Q:

I noticed that you were strangely quiet on the Message Boards
regarding the A & E show Take This Job.What did you think of how it depicted dicesetters, and what did you think of
everyones throw?

A:

My
General Thoughts

For
dicesetters who prefer to RAISE their profile instead of flying BELOW the casinos radar, I
would invite you to read:

You
have to realize that when you combine ego and money, some peoples decision-making
process takes a backseat to greed and self-aggrandizement.Those articles pretty well sum up my feelings on that entire subject.

Whooping
It Up

The
boys certainly were whooping it up for the cameras, and that may have been BECAUSE of the
cameras.My experience is that when you
high five the shooter while he hasnt completed his hand, you move him
out of position and possibly out of mindset.If
they are teaching that kind of behavior in their classes, I can see why more of their
students ARENT successful.On the other
hand, if they only grandstand when they have an audience, well that says
something completely different about their self-esteem, doesnt it.

If
the film-crew was moving them out of position to get the shot, that is one thing, but
intentionally moving six to ten feet from where you are successfully shooting just to bump
bellies and swap saliva with your compadrés is similar to the showboating that
Sharpshooter was WELL-KNOWN for just a couple of years ago when he would loudly call out
his intended roll beforehand.

In
fact, that pimp-struttin, trash-talkin, shot-callin was prominently
talked about in the PARR promotional material that was sent out to prospective students a
couple of years ago.I know that both Dom and
Jerry P. went public about 18 months ago, and said that they had reined in that sort of
outrageous high-jinx.It was at that time
that Dominator specifically said, and I quote, Keeping a low-profile is THE
ABSOLUTE BEST WAY not to kill the golden goose.

Of
course, holding seminars in the casinos and filming your skills for a national TV audience
in not the best way to fly under the radar, but IT IS the best way to raise your marketing
profile with potential students.I suppose
that some people think that its okay to kill the golden goose as long as they can
make a few bucks by pimping it out along the way.Sometimes
the pimp wears a fur coat and a green-felt fedora with a big purple ostrich-feather
sticking out of it, and sometimes they just wear a golf-shirt with their company logo on
it.

The
fact that, to a man, each one of those same gaming-personalities say that the corporations
would NEVER, EVER even CONSIDER changing ANYTHING about the game of craps is absolute and
complete...CRAP...and they know it's crap too!

They
will continue saying that even beyond the point where casinos start to take stronger, more
widespread action against advantage players.Telling
the truth DOES NOT help to sell books or seminars if the truth is going to hurt your
dicesetting sales and marketing efforts.

The
A&E Dice-Throws

As
to how they actually threw the dice, well, I never thought that I would be quoting Mr.
V (of Message Board flame-fame) in a positive way, but here it goes.Mr. V in discussing that A & E show, wrote:

ĜThe
players were more like nerdy frat boys on a panty raid than serious gamblers.

ĜAnd
that throw: my god, the dice just came flying off the back wall!

ĜEven
Scoblete, the self-reporting best shooter ever, looked mediocre, his throw was just so-so.

ĜI've
seen more dead cats in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant.

I
was also surprised at the speed and, dare I say, relative randomness that the dice
rebounded off of the backwall.The rollbacks
on most of the shots were quite substantial.By
way of example, the right-dice may hit the backwall and rollback 8 or 10 inches, while the
left-dice would rollback anywhere from 12 to 18 inches.I would classify that as HOPEFUL-shooting, and not even close to
Precision-Shooting

For
the most part, the only time that the two dice remained together was when they were in the
shooters hand.They were definitely NOT
matched, mirror-like, or glue-like in either their mid-flight journey or when
they came to a full and complete stop at their final destination.

I
can see now why some folks talk about a percentage-throw instead of a
Precision-Throw.Perhaps they are correct in
suggesting that they can only influence one out of 43 rolls.With those kind of high-energy rebounds, that
1-in-43 number seems downright likely.

On
the other hand, the Dicecoach had a much gentler, less erratic toss.I think when you combine an easy-going attitude
with highly-practiced skill and iron-willed discipline, you get a more confident and
relaxed result with your Precision-Shooting.

I
also liked Hardways toss from straight out at the end of the table.The classic Yuri Konenenko style is a
formidable weapon if you master it (while adjusting backspin and adapting it to various
layouts) from that position.

Adapting
to Tables

Its
critically important for you to remember that ALL of the actual professional players out
there are able to compensate for, then adjust and adapt to various table layouts.It was clear that they had all played at Gold
Coast and Sunset Station many, many, MANY times before this footage was ever shot.With that in mind, you would think that these
would be some of the most well-known or dialed-in tables for them insofar as
their shooting ability was concerned.If that
was the case, I would hate to think how they would fair on a layout that they hadnt
played on previously.

To
be fair, the presence of a film-crew may have added to their stress, but in some ways that
is akin to having three Table Supervisors, two Pit Bosses, one Shift Manager and three
security dudes (the ones in suits, not blazers or uniforms) watching intently as you shoot
the lights out on a hot roll.If having an
audience brought about performance-anxiety, how do they handle the heat of a casino that
sweats the money like James Brown at his parole hearing?

Ive
seen Frank Scoblete shoot before and his toss was pretty much the same as you saw on the
TV segment.Though he may THINK hes the
best shooter, Ill tell you what others are too polite and politically-correct to
say, and that is that Frank probably isnt even in the Top Thirty, and if he is, then
there is a huge, and I mean a freakin HUGE gap between the Top Fifteen and the rest
of the pack.Dont get me wrong, he is
an outstanding writer, but his dice-skills are mediocre at best.

The
Dead Cat and Other Sedentary Creatures

The
people who belittle the Dead Cat Bounce are most likely the ones who cant
consistently deliver it.Since they cant
seem to get the hang of it, they settle for percentage-throwing and HOPE for
the best, as opposed to the high-percentage of on-axis/primary-face outcomes with
Precision-Shooting.

When
I replay the various tosses, I see some off-the-backwall rebounding that would make a
racketball player proud.

Point,
Then 7-Out

While
all of us occasionally roll a Point-then-7-Out, the collective frustration of that TV
group seemed to indicate a Here we go again sort of mindset, where they
indicate that it happens to them more often than not.The collective annoyance and disappointment that most of them showed (except
for the Dicecoach) is NOT what one would expect from a group of professionals (especially
clothed in their self-promotional Im a professional instructor
garb).

Their
expressions were downright funereal in nature, and as our friend Heavy would say, the
crap between their ears and their collective negativism had we lose
a lot, and we lose often written all over it.

Again,
we ALL have bad rolls once in a while, but their aggravation and irritation was a sure
sign that they lack the cool-headed professionalism that it takes to make a consistent
profit off of PLAYING this game as apposed to making a consistent profit WRITING ABOUT IT
or GIVING SEMINARS about it.If their
writing-money or their seminar revenue allows them to afford to continue playing craps,
then they should probably say so (just as Frank did a couple of years back).

I
would say that if the haphazard results that they were getting on the TV show is
indicative of their real-world results, then I can see why they have to continue selling
various wares in their real jobs.

WHEN
It Changes, Not IF It Changes

While
ONE event (even a nationally televised one) won't result in immediate wholesale changes,
the cumulative effect of an ever-higher public profile of the skill will not be ignored by
the casinos.

Now
for those of you who say that the casinos changed the 3:2 payout for blackjack to a 6:5
payout (a TINY little 40% move in favor of the house) because of GREED and NOT because of
advantage players, you can also use the same excuse for them going from single-decks to
8-deck shoes, no mid-shoe entry, shallow penetration and limiting betting ranges.

Whether
you attribute it to greed or game-protection or good business practices or whatever, it
doesn't really matter. The result is the same...they will take away an advantage as soon
as they identify it as one (or where they suspect that an advantage MIGHT be gained).

When
you heavily promote the fact that you can get an advantage over the casino, and I am
talking about ANY advantage, they will close that loophole tightly, NEVER TO BE OPENED
AGAIN!

You
have to understand that most people (regular players who lose a lot anyway) will not
complain about the changes, just as they didn't complain when all of the changes to BJ
came about.

A
Final Thought

If
someone is telling you that the casinos would never, ever dare change the sacrosanct game
of craps, you may want to look a little deeper to see if he has a vested interest in the
message that he is trying to sell you.

Theres
still a ton of e-mail in the cyber-box, but it will have to wait until next time.Until then,